Second Round NHL Playoff Predictions

I usually suck at predictions, but I was pretty dead-on in the first round. Let's go back and look over those quickly before getting to Round 2:

 

Boston (4) vs. Montreal (0) - My Prediction: Bruins in 5. I was off by one game, but Boston was a much better team than Montreal and dominated them in this series

Washington (4) vs. N.Y. Rangers (3)- My Prediction: Capitals in 7. Could I have been any more right? The Rangers faltered in the end because they couldn't hold a 3-1 lead and their offense was not sufficient enough to win games. Last night's loss was heartbreaking because they played their best period of the season in the 1st period but came out of it 1-1 because of a fluke goal by the Caps. The failure of the Rangers to have a true scorer on their roster is what did them in in the end.

New Jersey (3) vs. Carolina (4) - My Prediction: Hurricanes in 7. I said this should be a good one, and I happened to pick it EXACTLY once again. Two heartbreaking losses for the Devils: one with 0.2 seconds left and last nights where they gave up the game tying and game losing goal with 1:20 left. As Deadspin pointed out, though, Martin Brodeur (MARTY! MARTY! MARTY!) let in a few soft goals and then refused to take the blame on his shoulders. As a Devils-hater (and MARTY!-chanter), this one gives me happiness. 

Pittsburgh (4) vs. Philadelphia (2) - My Prediction: Penguins in 6. Third one in a row I got dead right. The Philadelphia Flyers are the Atlanta Braves of the NHL: always make the playoffs during the mid-late 90s and early 2000s and do very little once they're there. At least the Braves won a World Series, though. 

San Jose (2) vs. Anaheim (4) - My Prediction: Sharks in 7. Amazingly, the only one I got wrong in the entire 1st round. But then again, almost everyone got this one wrong. And I actually cautioned that this would be really, really close. So I'll take some credit there. But I don't know how I missed this one. San Jose has been built as a regular season team who chokes miserably in the playoffs for years now and the Ducks seem to find ways to win. I'll take a mulligan on this one.

Detroit (4) vs. Columbus (0) - My Prediction: Red Wings in 5. Off by one game. But I knew who the winner will be. And with San Jose out of it, Detroit is not only the West's top seed, but they have to be the favorites to win the Stanley Cup and repeat as champions. Columbus was in way over their heads in this series and it showed. Game 4 was the only one that Detroit seemed to even break a sweat.

Vancouver (4) vs. St. Louis (0) - My Prediction: Canucks in 6. No one expected the Blues in the playoffs and I was pretty sure they didn't deserve to be there. But I didn't realize how much better Vancouver was. I got it correct, but I was 2 games off. In all fairness, 3 out of the 4 games were one-goal affairs. So I don't feel too badly.

Chicago (4) vs. Calgary (2) - My Prediction: Blackhawks in 6. Another perfect hit. Chicago advanced for the first time since 1996 and the Flames flamed out in the first round for the fourth time in a row. Maybe they can send Jerome Iginla over to the Rangers now? (please)

 

So overall I was 7 out of 8 with 4 perfect predictions, two off by one game, and one other off by two games. Now that's expert predictions. As for round 2:

 

Boston vs. Carolina - Although it will be overshadowed by the other Eastern Conference Semifinal, this is an interesting matchup. You have a great defensive team vs. a fast, multi-faceted team that has been hot for the weeks. The Bruins swept their first round series and have been off for a while, while the Hurricanes just finished a 7 game series. Is it rest and defense/consistency or momentum and speed/offense? I think this is a long, hard-fought series. Some predict an easy win for the Bruins, but I think it could go either way, and at the very least, the Canes will give the Bs a run for their money.  I feel like Boston has been playing over their heads much of this season and against a very good Carolina team, I predict them to be upset (mostly because I can't deal with any more New England success). 'Canes in 7.

Washington vs. Pittsburgh- Every major sport does certain things to help out their marquee teams. The NBA gave the Knicks Patrick Ewing by fixing the lottery. The NFL took painstaking measures to not punish the Patriots during their perfect season for Spygate as to not ruin that lore. MLB executed a trade of teams so that John Henry would give up on the Florida Marlins and come to own the Boston Red Sox and then appointed Red Sox employee George Mitchell as the investigator into steroids to make sure that none of that curse breaking was found to be done with the help of steroids. And the NHL made sure the referees did everything in their power to give the Capitals the series against the Rangers. Why would they take a series away from a New York franchise? Because they wanted to set up Alexander the Great vs. Sid the Kid. This is the marquee matchup in the NHL. The two best players in the NHL. And I think it'll be a fun series. And while 20-year-old Varlamaov was great vs. the Rangers, all those rebounds he let up against New York will be put in the net by the Pens. My Prediction: Penguins in 6.

Detroit vs. Anaheim - This series pits the last two Stanley Cup champions against each other. In fact, the Red Wings have won 4 out of the last 11 Stanley Cups and Anaheim has been in the Stanley Cup finals twice in the last five years. So these teams have a lot of history. But I think the Red Wings will be too much for the Ducks. This was the best team in the NHL last season and then they went out and added Hossa to the mix. I don't think Anaheim has enough to get through Detroit, but after I picked them wrongly in the first round, you never know. Red Wings in 6.

Vancouver vs. Chicago - Hmmm...I'm at a loss to predict this series. You have the Nikolai Khabibulin vs. Roberto Luongo and both were fabulous in Round 1. So that's even. You have two teams who went 2-2 against each other in the regular season. So that's even. You have two teams whose last trip to the Stanley Cup came before baseball had a Wild Card. You have two big stories here as hockey has been dead in Chicago for 13 years until this point and there has been no Canadian Stanley Cup winner in 16 years. You have the young Sedin twins vs. the young Chicago pairing of Toews and Kane. The advantage for Chicago is that they have three players with a Stanley Cup ring and the advantage for Vancouver is that they have more players with recent playoff experience. I'll go with the Canucks, though it'll be a close one. Canucks in 7.